My Last Duchess Essay

The Last Duchess, by Robert Browning

Robert Browning’s clever use of diction, rhythm, and symbol are heavily portrayed in his 1842 piece, My Last Duchess. The dramatic monologue is a chilling story narrated by the voice of the murder himself, The Duke of Ferrara. Browning’s piece depicts the Duke’s efforts to gain a new wife through the count in a tour of his beloved art, shown on the walls of his palace in the second floor. The Duke tries to hide his possessive, haughty, and insecure self through oblique and opaque terms in efforts to persuade the count in marriage of his daughter, but eventually eats his words as the tour comes to an end when he incorporates his view of male authority and female submersion. As the Duke gives the tour

As the Duke tries to remain pleasant while touring and storytelling, his choice of words and tone tell otherwise. He implies that the last duchess was not a good wife who did not stay faithful, always had wondering eyes, and did not love him the way he wanted to be loved. The theme of power is introduced through this section in the piece as the Duke speaks of and refers to his last duchess as one of his objects. This possessiveness is inferred to be the same for the future duchess, the count’s daughter. “Is ample warrant that no just pretence of mine for dowry will be disallowed; Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed at starting, is my object,” (Browning, Lines 50-54.) Similarly, referring to his women as possessions, he incorporates irony with the theme of innocence. When the Duke thought taming a harmless sea horse was equivalent to being a bronze medal to him, this emphasizes the possessiveness and power that consumes the Duke. “Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me,” (Browning, Lines 54-56.) This statement not only represents his characteristics, but is a metaphor to controlling innocent